"And He began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard and put a wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?"
And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away."
Good Morning my beloved,
Almost every human being on the planet knows that Jesus Christ existed and lived more than 2000 years ago, a reality that few would dispute, because there are a number of sources, outside the Bible, that clearly record it. And, almost everyone would agree, that even after 2000 years, He is still the most captivating, the most talked about, the most written about, the most studied person to ever have lived in the history of the world. Most major religions in the world acknowledges the person of Jesus Christ. Yet, even after all these centuries of examination of His life, there is still much confusion, much debate, deception and doubt about Who Jesus Christ is and Who He claimed to be. Most everybody is ready to accept Jesus as a man, a great teacher or a prophet without issue, the problem that continues to exist until today, is Who does Jesus Himself say that He is.
In John 14:6, Jesus unequivocally said "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me," making the astonishing claim He alone, is the only One who can take you to heaven, making Him the only Savior, eliminating the possibility of any other option.
In John 10:30, Jesus said "I and the Father are one," claiming equality with God, which at first glance, might not seem to be a claim to be God in the flesh, however, when you look at verse 33, when the Jews wanting to stone Him said "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God," He never refutes the fact that He was making Himself out to "be God." In John 8:45-46, He said "If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." And, in verse 58, when He revealed "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am," claiming His pre-existence,
an absolute attribute of God and applying the term "I AM" to Himself, the exclusive Name of God, it becomes even more
difficult to invalidate the truthfulness of His claim to be God incarnate, God in the flesh.
Then, in John 20:28, when Thomas, one of the twelve disciples, said to Him, "My Lord and my God." Jesus never said anything to correct Him.
In the Old Testament, in speaking for God, Hosea said in Hosea 13:4, God said "Yet I have been the Lord your God since the land of Egypt; And you were not to know any god except Me, For there is no savior besides Me." If God is to be the Savior, and Jesus unequivocally said He alone is the Savior, then He must be God. Therefore, it's impossible to put all these things together and conclude anything else but that salvation is available only through faith in Jesus Christ.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You for Your Word, for the clear revelation of Who Jesus Christ is, the I Am, the eternal One, the Son of God, the Savior, God incarnate. Lord, I pray that any person that has been struggling with the question of Who Jesus is would now find that answer in their heart, and embraces the Truth, the only choice that has stood the test of time. Father, I ask that You would soften the hearts that have been hardened for so long, work in their hearts before it becomes too late and Judgment comes. Call them to Yourself, they cannot come unless You call them and grant them the gift of repentance. Grant those of us who are Yours, the courage and the boldness to warn those who don't know Christ and offer the Gospel of grace and let them know that forgiveness of sin is available, if they will trust in Him. Lord, help us to know who those people are whose hearts You have prepared, because we can't know who they are unless You reveal them to us. We ask and pray this in Christ's name for Your glory.
Amen
Today's Message: Outrageous Grace
Jesus often spoke in parables, there are many who think that parables were designed to make things clearer, to reveal a hidden spiritual Truth, but actually the exact opposite is true, He spoke in parables to conceal the Truth from those who rejected Him, making things more obscure, so they would not understand and conclude the opposite of the Truth. Parables then, are a judgment on those who had rejected the Truth. While all parables were a judgment, some parables were unique, designed for the purpose of making sure the religious leaders clearly understood the meaning, so there's no way they can miss the fact that they were the ones being judged, such as the parable of the vine-growers in our text today.
Jesus is an amazing storyteller, I imagine His audience would have been captivated, hanging on to His every word. Vineyards were a very common in the land of Israel, in fact, the land is literally covered with vineyards, so this is genius illustration for our Lord to use to explain something in a way that His hearers would have understood, something that would have been otherwise beyond their grasp. The point being, that the vineyard owner took extreme care in preparing and protecting the vineyard, and though he may own land, he contracted or leased it to others to cultivate and care for the land, as was very common and they would give him give him a certain portion of the proceeds of the crop they harvested, which was also common, so the crowds listening to Him speak would have easily understood that.
With that background, open your Bibles with me, if you will, to the twelfth chapter of Mark's Gospel, Mark 12 verses one through twelve and follow along with as I read so you to have it in your minds as we begin to study the text to hear what God has to say to us today.
"And He began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard and put a wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The
stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone;
This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?"
And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away."
Let's look at verse 1, "And He began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard and put a wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey." And He began to speak to them in what would be very familiar words from Isaiah 5, a parable from the prophet Isaiah warning the people of Israel about the coming judgment from God, specifically about destroying Jerusalem, the temple through the Babylonians who would take them into captivity for 70 years. If you go back to Isaiah chapter 5, let's look at the people involved in the parable. God is the landowner who planted a vineyard, speaking about Israel and His providing everything necessary to protect them, building a watch tower to see that no one invades them, He's dug a vat for the pressing of the grapes and a place to store everything used in doing work. In other words, He has done everything for them to bring forth good fruit but instead of producing good fruit, they produced only worthless sour fruit. Anyone who heard Jesus quoting from this parable should have known our Lord is very clearly making a point about what was coming, the Judgment of God for failing to produce the desired results with the tremendous opportunity they'd been given delivered this time through Jesus, whom they are planning to put to death. The religious leaders of Israel have continuously refused to work according to God's plan, rejecting His
grace. Jesus is leading them down the garden path and drawing them in, so they
can conclude the story themselves, without any interpretation. So far, so good, this is all normal stuff, so they haven't picked up on anything out of the ordinary.
Verse 2, "At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers." In other words, he sent his servant on his behalf, who came in his name, to collect a percentage of the proceeds. The slave arrives and all they have to do is give the slave what was rightfully due to the man who owned the vineyard, as per their agreement with him. This is where the parable becomes unbelievably uncommon, through a series of shocking events, to expose the just
condemnation of the wicked religious leaders.
Verse 3, "They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed." Instead of giving him what he had been sent for, they take the slave and they beat him up, and they sent him away empty-handed. Obviously, they'd been well cared for, they've been protected during the time they were there working the vineyard for the landowner but instead of giving him what was rightfully his, they beat his servant and sent him away because they wanted to keep everything for themselves. The verb "deró,"means to physically hit, viciously punch, scourge or lash the skin, leaving him raw and bloody. You can imagine the self-righteous religious leaders are thinking "Who would dare commit such heinous, criminal behavior." They know it's a parable, they would have understood there's a spiritual point to the story.
So, in verse 4, he sends another slave, implying that the first slave didn't even come back. "Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully." The verb "kephalaioó," means to strike on the head. In other words, they literally bashed his head in, implying they may have killed him instantly. I imagine the chief priests, scribes and the elders were talking amongst themselves, saying "This is outrageous! What kind of ungrateful people are these?" Jesus is really reeling them in, making His point.
Verse 5, "And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others." Mark makes it clear, that one, they killed! Matthew 21 gives us more detail, "The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them." By now, they're probably buzzing; "This is really outrageous! This landowner just keeps sending his slaves to get beaten, stoned and killed? It doesn't matter who he sent, their reaction is becoming worse and worse. Who is this guy who owns the land, he must be insane, that's his heir!"
Just when they think things couldn't possibly get worse, then Jesus says in verse 6, "He had one more left to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’" You can almost hear them gasping, "It's one thing for these horrible people to treat his slaves that way, surely, they will not kill his beloved son? They will respect his son, turn away from their wicked behavior in shame!" By now, they're hanging on His every word in dread, captivated beyond comprehension by the evil of these wicked men., "What did they do to his son?" If they were shocked before, wait until they realize they are about to condemn themselves.
Verses 7-8, "But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard." This is shocking! These men knew exactly who his son was and they still planned his murder so they could take his inheritance? Remember, they pride themselves on being legalists, so this is sheer genius, Jesus feeding their hypocrisy, follow along carefully.
Verse 9, "What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others." Luke tells us "When they heard it, they said, "May it never be!" They are completely drawn into the story. They pride themselves on knowing Scriptures, Genesis 9:6 says "Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man." You would think after Luke remark "May it never be!," they must've have figured out He was speaking about them, right? No, not all. After all, it’s obvious what the landowner would do. Matthew adds, "They
said to Him, "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will
rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the
proceeds at the proper seasons." They are ready to give themselves a pat on the back, congratulating themselves but what they don't realize is they have just condemned themselves!
Verses 10-11, "Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?" He's quoting from Psalm 118:22-23. In other words, He's saying did you who claim to excel in the Law miss this one? The cornerstone is a massive stone. It is the most carefully selected
stone in building, because it sets the foundation. If the cornerstone is
off, then everything else in the building is off! God intended His divine plan of salvation to go far beyond the nation Israel.
God put you in a place of blessing, He sent His prophets to you and you robbed God of what was due Him. You
gave God nothing! How patient has God been with you? Yet, you murdering His prophets, one after another. Isaiah was sawn asunder. Jeremiah was stoned. Amos was clubbed to death.You've rejected His message delivered through John the
Baptist, and he was beheaded. You have stoned Stephen to death. Now you
are rejecting His message, delivered through Me, His Son, whom you are planning to put to death. What a tremendous indictment. They knew they are the sons of those who killed the prophets. They knew Jesus said He was the Son of Man, a messianic title, and they still wanted Him dead. Jesus is saying, "Go ahead with your plans to kill and crucify Me! God will raise Me back up." Now, they begin to realize they are trapped, damned by their own condemnation, they have said it themselves. They knew their history, there was absolutely no doubt now that He was talking about them! They got the message loud and clear, that the parable He spoke was against them
That brings us to verse 12, "And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away." You would imagine, that by now, they would feel so convicted, they would
drop to their knees, turn to Christ in repentance, begging for forgiveness. Do they? No! They just became worse and worse, like the men in the parable, without shame, guilt, or remorse, they don’t care that He is the Son
of God, it doesn't phase them at all that they will face God's Judgement. God says, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased" and they want to seize Him
and kill Him anyway to keep the inheritance for themselves. They even condemned themselves, saying such wickedness will not go unpunished. Wow, just unbelievable!
Peter picked up on this, when he is addressing the same group of self-righteous religious leaders in Acts 4, that Jesus is addressing here Mark 12, he said "let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
Jesus makes it clear, even though the kingdom of God is exclusive in terms of how you get in,
it is not exclusive in terms of what type of people can come in. If they reject God’s way, God will reject them. The world today is still filled with people like that, people who want enter the kingdom of heaven on their own terms, doing
things their own way, failing to realize that entrance is only by God’s prescribed method. God sends many people to them during their lives, to share the message of the Gospel, and they continue reject the Truth, so they can continue in their sin!
Refusing to believe that there will be a Judgment Day, doesn't change the fact it's coming! When the final judgment falls, Christ is going to return and He is going to grind all those who have rejected Him into dust!
God does not owe us anything. But because God is full of grace and mercy, determined to redeem people, the kingdom of God is open and everyone is invited, however, you can only come through Jesus! John 10:9, "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved.." If you attempt to enter any other way, you will be sent away
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2023 All Rights Reserved
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2023 All Rights Reserved